Cubs, rooftop owners cut deal

11 sites could pay $2 million a year, but 2 want a trial

January 12, 2004|By H. Gregory Meyer, Tribune staff reporter.

The Chicago Cubs and owners of rooftop grandstands overlooking Wrigley Field have agreed on a settlement that would require the owners to pay the team millions of dollars annually, officials said Sunday.

The 20-year agreement, which could take effect this season, calls for the owners of 11 buildings to give the Cubs 17 percent of their gross revenue, said Ald. Thomas Tunney (44th). With an estimated 1,700 seats on the rooftops, it could cost owners more than $2 million a year.

Owners of two of the 13 rooftop buildings did not join the agreement and plan to take the issue to trial.

The Cubs sued the owners in December 2002 after talks on the team's bleacher-expansion plan broke down. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, accused the owners of stealing the team's product, copyright infringement and unjust enrichment at the Cubs' expense. The agreement awaits the parties' signatures and court approval, sources said.

"This issue is really between two successful businesses and I'm glad they can reach an agreement out of court," said Tunney, whose ward includes the ballpark in Lakeview. The Cubs' deal does not affect the team's longstanding desire to add about 2,000 bleacher seats, though a source close to the rooftop owners' side argued that by taking a healthy cut on each seat, the team is getting a de-facto expansion.

"This deal does not mean we are letting down our opposition to an expansion or that it paves the way for an expansion. Our view is, with this agreement, the Cubs have gotten their expansion," he said.

Another source close to negotiations said: "It's an amazing deal for the Cubs. They are just handed $2 million for doing nothing."

If the bleachers are expanded in the next eight years, Tunney said the deal would require the Cubs to compensate rooftop owners whose views are obstructed.

Owners of buildings at 1038 W. Waveland Ave. and 3633 N. Sheffield Ave., have not agreed to the settlement, but their willingness to go to trial should not threaten the deal, sources said.

Among the points of the deal still being ironed out is a joint marketing agreement between the Cubs and rooftop owners. It could include "showing us on TV like they used to, when Harry Caray was around," said one source close to rooftop owners. "The cameramen were instructed not to show the rooftops in the last couple of years when the dispute got more heated." Also, said one rooftop source, the Cubs have agreed not to install windscreens blocking rooftop views as they did during the 2002 season.

Lawyers for the Cubs declined to comment, citing a judge's order. The Cubs are owned by Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune.

Tunney said an agreement with rooftop owners still leaves other key concerns unresolved, such as whether the team should be required to devote more money to fighting litter and reducing traffic congestion.

The Cubs had initially offered to increase funding such "neighborhood protection" services in return for approval of an ordinance authorizing an additional 12 night games, but that plan has stalled at City Hall.

Lawyers for the two sides reached the rooftop deal in the courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier on Friday, one participant said.

The owners first proposed collectively paying the Cubs $300,000 a year for 50 years, and the team's first counter-offer was 20 percent of rooftop revenue annually over 10 years, the source said.

Twelve hours later and two rooftop owners fewer, negotiators reached the agreement.